The present disclosure relates to an aircraft comprising at least one emergency beacon, and such an emergency beacon.
Each aircraft is currently equipped with a radio beacon which transmits a distress signal when a problem occurs on the aircraft. Such a radio beacon is designed to transmit a signal that can be picked up by the emergency services all around the world. Such a radio beacon is installed in the fuselage of the aircraft and transmits its signal via an antenna. In a distress landing or when the aircraft is submerged, the antenna and the radio beacon may suffer damage which renders them inoperative.
Another solution, described in the patent FR-A-2 968 276, consists of a radio beacon which is ejected through the fuselage by piercing through it when an incident is detected. The radio beacon is then outside the aircraft and, in the case of submersion, it returns to the surface to transmit a more easily locatable distress signal.
Now, it is possible for a false alarm to trigger the radio beacon, which results in the piercing of the fuselage and then necessitates expensive repairs.
One object of the present disclosure is to propose an aircraft comprising an emergency beacon which does not present the drawbacks of the prior art, and in particular in which the emergency beacon is designed to not result in destruction of the structure of the aircraft when it is triggered and in which its installation does not necessitate any modification of the structure of the aircraft.
To this end, an aircraft is proposed that comprises:
a fuselage having an outer face on which is fixed a second interface,
at least one emergency beacon comprising:                a base having a first interface designed to cooperate with the second interface in order to ensure the fixing of the base onto the outer face, and        a casing in which are housed at least the following electronic components: a control unit, a radio transmitter suitable for transmitting a distress radio signal and detector designed to detect an abnormal behavior of the aircraft, and        
fixing structure designed to take up a fixation position in which the fixing structure ensures the fixing of the casing onto the base or a separation position, in which the fixing structure does not ensure the fixing of the casing onto the base, the transition from the fixation position to the separation position being ordered by the control unit when the detector detects an abnormal behavior, and
in which the second interface is a physical and electrical interface designed to receive a navigation lamp, in which the first interface is a physical and electrical interface identical to that of the navigation lamp and in which the base comprises a mounting interface designed to receive a navigation lamp, the mounting interface being a physical and electrical interface identical to that of the second interface.
Such an emergency beacon is therefore ejected from the aircraft from its outer location when an incident is detected and the structure of the aircraft is then not damaged even in the case of a false alarm and its positioning in place of a navigation lamp avoids modifying the structure of the aircraft.
Advantageously, the casing comprises an electrical energy source.
Advantageously, the casing is equipped with an inflatable cushion designed to inflate around the casing.
Advantageously, the casing comprises a parachute designed to be deployed under the control of the control unit after the separation.
Advantageously, the aircraft comprises an electrical network designed to power the electronic components from an energy source located in the aircraft.
Advantageously, the or at least one of the emergency beacons is arranged at the rear of the fuselage.
Advantageously, the control unit comprises a memory area in which is stored a map of the Earth and a database which lists the safety threshold values linked to parameters of the aircraft and that are based on the mapping, the control unit comprises data processing software suitable for comparing the data transmitted by the detector to the database data, and for triggering the fixing structure based on these comparisons.
Advantageously, the control unit comprises a first subunit and a second subunit, each subunit comprises:
a first module designed and configured to deliver a first electrical signal to the fixing structure through a first wired connection; and
a second module designed to deliver a second electrical signal to the fixing structure through a second wired connection; and
for each module, a detector is provided and connected to the module and that is different from those of the others of the first and second modules.
The disclosure herein also provides an emergency beacon for an aircraft according to one of the preceding variants.